lflgames@well.UUCP (Lucasfilm Games Division) (03/19/86)
In article <334@umcp-cs.UUCP>, tewok@umcp-cs.UUCP (Wayne Morrison) writes: > Could someone/anyone give me any info on the two Tekumel games, please? > They are called "Empire of the Petal Throne" and "Swords and Glory". > I have read and enjoyed the books the game's author wrote. I was wondering > whether the games were worth having or if they were just D&D clones. > Thanks for your help! > > > Wayne Morrison > Parallel Computation Lab > University of Maryland > (301)454-7690 > > ARPA: tewok@brillig > UUCP: seismo!umcp-cs!tewok I played EPT (which incidentally predates the Early Pregnancy Test) back in 1975 when it had just come out. I had a wonderful time as the world is delightfully alien - much more so than the D+D hodgepodge of every mythology and fairy story in existence. It also has a fairly reasonable basis for blending technology (albeit often defective) with magic. Unfortunately, the game system was very primitive and both combat and magic were pretty awkward. The referee I played with just improvised his own, and that worked quite well. I'd personally recommend using Dragonquest rules, but as that's a defunct system it's probably not a great idea. The new Swords and Glory books have immensely more detail about Tekumel, and a completely new and apparently no more workable game system. I haven't played it (been waiting for the third book to come out) but I still heartily recommend the games as background material for a campaign. I still remember being hunted by a pair of Serudla, and the horror of realizing I had forgot to check the ceiling of a room as the mantle-like Biridlu settled about the shoulders of my character... Noah Falstein